Coomer: What's your name, where do you live, and what do you do?
My name is Yoann, I‘m living in Shanghai, China since 5 years. I’m a Site/Project Manager for a French chemical company.
Coomer: How long have you been riding, and how often do you ride?
Yoann: My dad put me on a bike when I was 3 and I never stopped riding since. I went through BMX, mountain biking, downhill and even trial. Anything with 2 wheels could do for me… Today, probably because Shanghai is really appropriate for it, I'm into fixed gear. I don't own a car, I don't want to own one, so riding is my exclusive way to move around and I ride everyday.
Coomer: Awesome. What are a couple of your favorite riding stories?
Yoann: Definitely the 2012 season of Alleycats in China. The scene has been growing like crazy in Asia. With my teammates from Factory 5 the challenge was to do all of them. I had an accident during the Shanghai one but then was back into the competition for the following ones. I met a lot of great people and shared awesome moments in different parts of the country that I didn't visit before. It is a great way to discover China. Really looking forward the upcoming 2013 events in Asia. This year I will definitely make it for Jakarta Fixed Fest.
Coomer: Your Colossi is gorgeous! How'd you get ahold of this bike?
Yoann: I got this frame as prize for the 1st place in the Alleycat of the Asia Fixed Gear Fest 2012 in Shenzhen. Being Colossi's hometown, they were the main sponsor of the event. Really intense race, one of the longest with a 45km route and about 250 competitors. It was an awesome day and Shenzhen is a great city to ride.
After that came the most difficult part of choosing the components to build it.
Coomer: Congrats! What else have you ridden, and how does the Colossi compare?
Yoann: For the last year I have been rockin' my old 1982 St Etienne and my Cinelli Mash. As comparison with the Mash, the geometry are really similar except the huge aero down tube giving it a mean look and a stronger feeling, the TT Aero fork increasing this style. It’s really a beast of a frame. Both are about similar weight.
They are equipped for different use. I love the Cinelli in urban environment; it's really responsive and agile to play into traffic. I prefer the Colossi for pure speed on straight roads. They are both great frames to ride on.
Coomer: What do you love/hate about your current bike setup? Any changes you're planning?
Yoann: It's perfect since I installed a pair of SPDs and switched the handlebar from the Deda Low rider bullhorn to dropbars, it made it more comfortable for my 40km daily commute. I will probably redo the paint when it gets more worn out, too much branding; I have a nice color scheme in mind for this aero tube.
Coomer: Anything else you'd like to say?
Yoann: Thanks to Coomer and Pedal Room, really loving the website and it helped me a lot to build my bike the way it looks today. And big up to Factory 5 & Peoples bike, without them, the Chinese fixed gear scene wouldn’t be what it is today!
Yoann Portugal
Instragram: yopo2412